OEM CD Changer Self-Installed Today (archive)

Thanks to Ron Stygar and Dan Eilenberger for their help. Dan's post from 1999 was excellent. Ron's pictures were great and prevented that "what have I gotten myself into" moment that comes when my car is a million pieces in my garage. I found both posts via google. Dan's post is particularly important because I can't imagine how the install would go without removing the subwoofer, something I'm not sure if the OEM instructions cover.

Now for my notes:

After self-installing the alarm and the cd changer now, I can safely say that those rubber trim covers for interior screws are my mortal enemies.

4 screws to remove the cargo cover
7 screws to remove the subwoofer and amp housing
5 retaining clips for the subwoofer and amp housing
5 nuts to remove the subwoofer
4 nuts to remove the amp
and somehow, some cars manage to have a rattle back there.

Fortunately, you only need a 10mm socket with a 3 and 6" extensions, a screwdriver, and a right angle phillips driver. A right angle ratchet screwdriver would've made things go faster, but I couldn't find one today and so its less sophisticated sibling worked nicely if slowly.

BMW uses some really long bolts. Paired with limited ratcheting space, and it seems like forever before a nut somes loose. Plus, they're all locking nuts so you never get to finger-spin them off. Oh well.

The changer I think comes with 4 screws. The brackets can take up to 8 screws to mount to the changer, so I bought some at a friendly neighborhood hardware store, literally. Home Depot salesperson looked like I insulted his parentage when I asked for a metric gague screw (4mm). I used the extra screws to use all available mounting points, for a total of 12 screws. Yes, more screws. Oh, the brackets did not come with screws, the changer didn't come with enough screws, so be ready.

Watch the glass. It's very easy to get bored/excited about ratcheting and whip the ratchet into your rear-quarter glass.

Watch where your hardware falls. The area has tons of nooks and crannies for a poorly started screw to fall down. I dropped one, 2nd to last screw in putting it back together and had to take half the assembly off to get it out. Damn.

It took about two hours, could've been less minus the lost screw and the fact that for probably more than 20 minutes, I couldn't figure out how the passenger side trim panels overlapped together. I also took the time to put on weatherstripping on the plastic-on-plastic surfaces as a preventative measure.

I'm happy to not have to swap CD's at the stoplights caveman style. I'm a little curious that BMW felt content with the fit and finish. Just a large square hole. Oh well.

Thanks again to Ron and Dan.

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